


i'm gonna pop some tags

by yourstrulytay



Series: Molina's Mementos [1]
Category: Julie and The Phantoms (TV 2020)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Bobby is Not Trevor Wilson, Carrie is the unnamed customer crush, Fluff, Fluff and Humor, M/M, Rated T for Mild Language, Reggie is a Good Wingman, Thrift Shop AU, no beta we die like we ate some bad hotdogs, the author may have gone on a couple of rants in the middle of the fic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-05
Updated: 2021-03-05
Packaged: 2021-03-18 11:00:06
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 11,390
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29857056
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/yourstrulytay/pseuds/yourstrulytay
Summary: Alex thinks working at Julie's family's thrift shop over the summer is going to be a good way to make money while also hanging out with his friends. Good. Easy. Fun. He isn't prepared for the skater who ran him over to be Ray's new hire.or the Thrift Shop AU that literally one person asked for and I enthusiastically volunteered to write.
Relationships: Alex Mercer/Willie (Julie and The Phantoms)
Series: Molina's Mementos [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2195109
Comments: 6
Kudos: 87





	i'm gonna pop some tags

**Author's Note:**

> Special thanks to adhd-disaster-willie on tumblr for posting this idea and then letting me write it!!
> 
> Title comes from the Macklemore song Thrift Shop lol... really takes me back to my eighth grade days

Alex has anxiety, alright? He is always on edge, waiting for the other shoe to drop, wondering when the next bad thing is going to happen.

So when Ray calls him into his office at the end of his shift, his first and only thought is _panic_.

He glances quickly at Julie as he walks towards the back, but all he gets in return in a small smile and a flash of a thumbs up before he has to turn the corner. He walks down the short hall that leads to the back office, finding Ray sitting at his desk with a small stack of papers piled neatly in front of him.

Alex clears his throat to announce his presence, and Ray looks up, face immediately gentling as he takes in what must be obvious nerves on Alex’s face.

“I promise you’re not in trouble, Alex, I just wanted to run a few things by you.”

As quickly as the panic had entered Alex, it exits, and he lets out a _whoosh_ of air, “ _Oh thank god_ ,” and then quickly catching himself, embarrassed, “-I mean-!”

Ray chuckles and waves off whatever Alex was going to say next, gesturing for the boy to sit in the chair across from him. Alex does so, and Ray begins to speak again, “Alright, so, with you and Julie going back to school in a month, I wanted to hire someone else alongside you both so that you guys will have more time to work on your studies. I haven’t hired anyone yet, but once I do, I was hoping you could train them?” Alex must show some sign of reluctance on his face – he’s got an expressive face, okay? – because Ray chuckles again, “I know it’s a lot to ask of you, but you’ve been here the longest and I think you’d be the best person for the job.”

When Julie had started working for her dad, Alex had trained her, but that was _different_. Alex had known her before he had to work with her, and he was comfortable around her. A new person? That would be a whole different story. The problem was not that Alex didn’t _like_ new people; he just wasn’t comfortable with them – especially not enough to try and boss them around. But – Ray trusted him to help him, and if there was anything that Alex hated _more_ than interacting with new people, it was letting the people he cared about – who cared about him – down.

Despite the anxiety building up in his chest, Alex sighs, “Yeah, I’ll train them.” Ray’s shoulders seem to slump suddenly, Alex thinks in relief, and he’s suddenly very glad he didn’t say no. Disappointing Ray would be like disappointing his father – worse, actually.

“Thank you, Alex.” He nods his head in response, shrugging it off a bit, and Ray continues, “I haven’t hired anyone yet, but I have a couple people coming in for interviews later this afternoon, so hopefully one of them will work out. If all goes to plan, I’m hoping that they can start by the end of next week.”

By now, Ray is sort of muttering to himself, so Alex takes a quick second to parse out how much time he’ll have to prepare himself mentally before then – a few days at least – and takes a deep breath, tapping out a beat against his legs while he waits for the older man to figure things out. There’s some shuffling of papers, and then a quiet _aha!_

Alex looks up from where he’d been watching his hands to see Ray brandishing a few pieces of paper – resumes, he assumes.

“I will be interviewing a young man named Willie, and another named Nick tonight. Once I make my decision, I’ll give you a call with the details on who I’ve hired and when they’ll start so that you have some idea of what to expect.” Ray checks the clock on his wall, and nods with finality, “And I’ve kept you well past the end of your shift. Sorry about that!”

Alex smiles a bit in response, shaking his head, “It’s no big deal, Mr. Molina.”

Ray waves him out of his office with a promise to let him know about the new hire as soon as possible, and Alex heads out.

* * *

After being interrogated by Julie as to what her dad had wanted, Alex _finally_ leaves the shop, a whole _hour_ after his shift had ended. It was coming on three o’clock and he was beginning to feel hungry, so he heads to the coffee shop just down the street instead of going straight home.

The cool air coming from the air conditioning greets him once he gets inside the shop, and the girl behind the counter smiles at him with a sort of familiarity. Alex knows he’s probably here way too often, but sue him, alright? Coffee makes his world go ‘round. He walks up to the counter and takes a peek at what baked goods are on display and decides on ordering a chocolate chip muffin to go along with his normal coffee order. The barista rings him up and hands him his muffin, then turns and begins to prepare his iced latte. The café is playing some top 40 radio station and the song currently playing is something with a fast beat, to which Alex begins to idly tap his hands against his thighs. After a few minutes of waiting and tapping, the barista hands him his drink with a cheerful _have a great rest of your day!_

Alex nods and smiles, “You as well!”

He walks towards the door, pulling his earbuds and phone out of his pocket to listen to music on the walk home. No sooner does he step out into the August heat when something solid runs into his side, knocking him over and his coffee out of his hands. His muffin, luckily, is still in a paper bag so it is saved from the fall, but the drink is spilled all over the concrete sidewalk. In the shock of it all, Alex lets out a curse – something that is very rare coming from him – and he hears a snort coming from above him. A face appears in his line of sight and Alex had to swallow the urge to let out another curse. The guy who’s run him over is _beautiful_. He’s got long brown hair, and the most beautiful eyes Alex has ever seen. He also has a skateboard laying at his feet and a helmet tucked under his arm, and he reaches down to offer Alex a hand to help him up. Alex’s thoughts come to a screeching halt when he reaches up and their hands connect, and he prays that his face hasn’t turned as red as he thinks it has.

The guy grins at him, looking way too happy for the words that exit his mouth next, “Dude, I think you dinged my board.”

Alex tilts his head to the side and finally his brain catches up with the situation at hand. He’s been too busy staring at the cute boy in front of him that he forgot why he needed to be helped up off of the ground. He puts two and two together and realizes that cute skater-boy is also the same person who knocked him over in the first place. A tiny bit of annoyance sets in, but skater-boy is still grinning at him and he’s finding it a tad bit difficult to be all _that_ annoyed. Still though.

“ _I_ dinged your _board_? Dude, you ran me over!”

Skater-boy grins, if possible, even wider, “Ah, yeah sorry about that. You’re okay, though, right? Nothing broken?”

Alex wants to be angry but the charming smile being directed in his direction makes it so hard. He sighs and takes inventory of any potential injuries. Nothing’s broken, but his right elbow is hurting a bit, probably skinned from coming in contact with the rough sidewalk, and he tells skater-boy as such.

Skater-boy still hasn’t stopped smiling, and he goes to say something, but his attention is caught on the watch on Alex’s wrist. He grabs his hand to bring it closer to his face and reads the time. “Ah, shit, I gotta go before I’m late! I really _am_ sorry about running you over dude.”

He’s put on his helmet and is skating away before Alex can even think of a response, and all he’s left to do is watch him skate away, wondering if he’ll ever see him again.

* * *

It’s a few hours into Alex’s shift on Thursday when Reggie and Luke come in to hang out with him and Julie. The shop’s been slow for about an hour, so Julie texted the boys to see if they were busy. Luke’s the first through the door; even though his back is turned, he knows this because Julie’s face lights up. As the drummer turns towards his other bandmates, he catches eyes with Reggie. They exchange fondly amused looks at the obliviousness of their friends, but otherwise don’t comment on it.

Their band has come together in fits and starts, with Reggie and Bobby knowing one another from childhood, and Julie and Alex the same. Luke had transferred to their school at the beginning of sophomore year and had slotted into place like a long lost puzzle piece. Upon meeting the other four, and hearing Julie sing, Luke had made it his personal mission to make convince them all to join a band with him. Nearly two years later, heading into their senior year, they were picking up regular gigs as Julie and The Phantoms.

Julie’s singing voice had not been the only thing Luke had noticed upon meeting her, and ever since their first meeting, he had been enamoured with her. Julie, for her part, was just as bad. The rest of the band was constantly entertained by the two of them, and there was an ongoing bet on when they would finally get their shit together.

Currently, they had already launched into a conversation and were fully immersed in their own world, unaware of the looks Alex and Reggie were shooting one another. Reggie walks up to Alex, where the blonde is hanging up some of the shop’s new stock.

“So what’s this I hear about someone new being hired?”

 _Ah, so Julie had told them._ “Yeah, someone named Willie? Ray wants me to help train him.” At Reggie’s sympathetic wince, Alex smiles a little. His friends just _get_ him. “Yeah, so I’m not sure how _that_ is going to go, but hopefully it won’t be… horrible?” Alex is aware that ending his sentence as a question doesn’t exactly project confidence, but he also knows that if anyone is going to understand his hesitation, it will be his friends.

“You haven’t met him yet, I suppose?”

“No, Ray only officially hired him yesterday, I think, so I don’t know what he even looks like.” Alex shrugs, sounding – even though he doesn’t feel it – nonchalant. “Hopefully training him will be fine.”

Reggie, bless his heart, nods enthusiastically, “I bet it’ll be awesome! Maybe he’ll be nice!”

Alex gives a tight smile and reaches up to brush his hair from his eyes when Reggie’s own smile drops from his face and he jolts forward to grab Alex’s wrist. He looks at his arm for a long second and it takes Alex no small amount of time to realize that he’s staring at his elbow; specifically, the scabbed over wound there.

“Ouch, what happened there?”

Alex lets out a huff, “Oh, yeah, I forgot to mention.” He chuckles a bit. “Some dude on a skateboard ran me over after work the other day. I skinned my elbow when I fell and I dropped my coffee, but other than that…” He trails off and shrugs.

Reggie winces, but Luke and Julie have finally broken out of their two-person bubble and are making their way over. When they reach Alex’s side, they begin to inspect his arm as well.

“Dude, that’s gnarly!” This comes from Luke.

Julie rolls her eyes at him, albeit fondly, and turns back towards Alex. “Ignoring Luke’s attempt at trying to bring back random nineties slang, are you okay? You didn’t hurt anything else when you fell, right?”

The blonde shakes his head no and she nods, satisfied. Julie is the mom in their group of friends and is most likely the one to fuss over the four boys, so her reaction to Alex getting hurt is not surprise to any of them. Alex looks at Reggie and Luke and has to stifle a laugh again when he sees that Luke is sending an adoring puppy dog expression Julie’s way. _God, these two are oblivious_.

Reggie catches his eyes again and rolls his own but smiles regardless. Neither of them can begrudge their friends for being happy, even if they refuse to admit that the other is the cause for said happiness. Alex knows that one day they will get there, even if today is not that day.

Luke’s focus on Julie seems to be broken, if only momentarily, when Reggie slaps a hand onto his shoulder and speaks, “We should probably head out, but Bobby wants to know if you guys wanna grab dinner tonight? At that new pizza place?”

Julie and Alex readily agree and bid the other two boys farewell, Julie watching Luke leave for a little longer than strictly platonic.

* * *

Alex’s question about whether he’d ever see skater-boy again is answered when he walks into work on Friday.

The guy is standing next to Ray while the older man is gesturing around the shop, and it clicks for Alex that skater-boy must be _Willie_. He swallows, his throat suddenly incredibly dry, and walks cautiously up to the other two. Ray catches sight of him and beckons him over, saying something to maybe-Willie that is too quiet for Alex to hear. The other boy turns towards Alex as well, his eyes widening a little. Alex gives him a small smile but otherwise shows no other form of recognition. He’s not sure whether it’s weirder to pretend he doesn’t recognize him, or to acknowledge the fact that he does, but he’s going with the former for now. Oh well, Alex has never known how to be not awkward in his life; why start now?

Once he comes closer, Ray claps Alex on the shoulder. “This is Alex! He’ll be the guy who’s going to show you the ropes around here. So, if you have any questions or concerns, let him know and he’ll most likely be able to help.” He turns back to Alex, “Alex, this is our new hire, Willie.”

Alex holds his hand up in greeting and Willie mirrors the action, Ray chattering on in the background, not noticing the odd sort of tension that has descended upon the two boys. He guides Willie away, pointing out and explaining certain aspects of the job. Alex goes to start his day of work as he normally does while he waits for ray to finish showing Willie around. As he busies himself with hanging new stock on shelves and making sure nothing is hung in the wrong section, he notices Willie glancing at him frequently. The long haired boy keeps taking quick looks when Ray isn’t looking, and after the fifth time he does it, Alex holds his gaze. He can feel his face redden a bit when beautiful brown eyes meet his own blue ones, and he curses his pale complexion for giving him away so easily. Their eyes stay locked for what feels like much longer than it probably actually is but then Ray asks Willie a question and his attention is diverted elsewhere.

Alex mindlessly does his tasks for the rest of the time that Ray is in the shop and soon Willie’s mini orientation is done. Alex is just finishing up with a customer as Ray and Willie walk up to him, the older man looking expectant. The older woman wishes Alex a _good afternoon_ and walks out the door, leaving the blonde to face his employer and new co-worker.

“I’ve got some paperwork to do so I was hoping you two would be good on your own..?” Ray trails off hopefully, and Alex smiles reassuringly.

“Yeah, don’t worry about it Mr. Molina, we’ve got it handled.”

He gets a warm smile in return and Ray heads to his office after making sure the two boys know that they can call out if they need his help and that _Julie will be in later, boys, don’t worry_. Willie and Alex watch him go and then turn back to each other, the awkwardness from before immediately coming back full force.

“So-” Willie starts to say, but Alex chooses that exact moment to begin to speak as well, “I-”

Both boys chuckle lightly and Alex gestures for Willie to speak first. The long-haired boy smiles even wider and Alex’s heart flutters a little at the sight.

 _Not the time, Alex_.

“I was just gonna apologize again for running you over a few days ago. I would have stayed and bought you another coffee to make up for the one you dropped, but I honestly really was in a rush- to be here, actually. I didn’t want to be late for my interview.”

Alex shrugs, “Hey, I understand now, and it’s seriously no big deal.”

“Are you sure? Because I feel really bad, man. I just- I really needed this job, and I couldn’t afford to mess up my interview.” Willie scrunches up his nose. “My old boss was _such_ an asshole, dude, so I quit- but then I realized that I needed to find a new job and this place is close enough to my house that I don’t need to drive, and it saves me money in the long run an-”

Alex grabs Willie by the shoulders, forcing the other boy to look at him. “Dude, I _promise_ you, it’s one hundred percent okay.”

Willie lets out a huff. “Can I at least buy you coffee before our next shift together to make up for the one I caused you to spill?”

Alex can feel his lips quirk up at the other guy’s determination. _He really doesn’t quit, does he?_

“Will it make you stop apologizing for something I’ve already forgiven you for?” Willie nods enthusiastically at that, grinning again. “ _Fine_ , yes, you can buy me coffee.”

“Great!” Willie pulls out his phone and taps around on it for a second before handing it over to Alex. At Alex’s curious look, he explains, “Put your number in so that we can exchange work schedules.”

Alex does as he’s asked and checks the time before he hands Willie back his phone. “Alright, let’s get started!”

* * *

By the time Julie arrives for her shift, around four o’clock, Willie’s begun to get comfortable in the shop. Because it’s a Friday, it’s been busier than any other weekday, and it’s started to pick up even more. Julie started work when she does is a blessing, because Alex doesn’t know how he would handle training Willie _and_ taking care of customers all by himself.

As in the Julie Molina standard, she walks in with a bright and sunny smile, immediately introducing herself to Willie. Alex can see the other boy immediately relax, seemingly despite himself, in her presence and has to grin to himself at the way she can disarm everyone she meets. She tells Alex that she’ll take care of any customers while he continues to help Willie, and Alex feels the panic that had been building as more and more customers had begun to show up dissolve. He continues showing Willie what to do in specific scenarios around the shop; how to work the till, how to know what to accept when a customer comes in with clothes to donate, and how the general layout of the shop is set up. Willie is attentive and asks a lot of questions, and Alex can tell that he wants to do well. It’s sweet, he thinks, how much Willie already seems to care about how well he does in this job. He had been kind of scared that the new guy was going to be the Worst, capital _W_ , and that he would have to train someone who wouldn’t listen to him or wouldn’t care about the job at all. He’s only known Willie for a few hours, but he already feels more comfortable around him than he could have ever guessed he would have.

By the time Willie’s shift is over, Alex has covered the majority of what he’ll need to know and feels pretty good about his training skills. On his way out, the skater pauses and turns back to Alex. “Hey, man, what’s your normal coffee order?”

Julie’s standing behind the till, idly straightening out the top of the counter, and Alex is standing beside her. Alex can tell that she hears Willie’s question by the way she’s staring at Alex, and he gives her a warning look and turns to where Willie is still waiting by the door. “Uh… why?”

He must sound suspicious, because Willie bursts out laughing, the wide grin from before making a comeback. “No need to be scared dude, I told you I’d bring you coffee before our next shift together, and I intend to make good on that promise.”

Alex can feel himself flush. _Right, the make-up coffee… of course he wasn’t just going to buy you coffee for no reason, Alex._ He looks back at Willie, who now is looking at him with an eyebrow raised, but a smile still firmly fixed upon his face. He tells him his coffee order, and the skater nods, satisfied. He bids his coworkers goodbye, grabs his skateboard off of the ground, clipping his helmet on, and pushes out the door, skating away. Alex watches the flash of long brown hair disappear from his sight, a small smile on his face, and then turns towards Julie again. She’s been standing there staring at him with an elated expression upon her face and Alex rolls his eyes at her.

“ _No_.”

The mischievous twinkle in her eye only gets brighter and she quirks her eyebrow at him. “I didn’t even _say_ anything, Alex!” He scoffs and starts walking towards the back of the store, intending on spending the rest of his shift sorting through the rack of newly donated clothing, but Julie follows him. “Why is he getting you coffee, _Alex_?”

 _Ugh, this is what I get for working with one of my best friends_. Alex knows there’s no getting out of answering her. “You know how I mentioned that some guy ran me over with his skateboard a few days ago?” Julie nods, looking a little confused at the seemingly swift change in topic. “Well, _some guy_ just happens to be _Willie_.”

Julie’s confused look quickly turns to one of delight, and she squeals. “ _Oh my god_!”

Alex winces at the volume of her voice and shushes her, “Your dad’s going to come out here wondering why you’re screaming, so could you, maybe, _quiet down_?”

She sobers a bit. “Sorry- wait, that still doesn’t answer my question about why he’s bringing you coffee.”

The blonde shrugs. “Oh, yeah, when he ran me over I spilled my coffee, so he offered to buy me a new one to make up for it.”

“Why didn’t he offer to buy you coffee the actual day he ran you over?”

Alex rolls his eyes fondly at the protectiveness that comes out in Julie’s voice with this question. The girl is normally incredibly sweet, but the moment anyone she cares about is insulted – well, Alex wouldn’t want to get on her bad side, to put it lightly. “Jules, it’s fine, I promise.” She still doesn’t seem satisfied, so Alex elaborates, “He was in a rush – to come here, actually. He didn’t want to be late for his job interview.”

Julie seems to relent, “I _suppose_ that’s a good enough reason.”

Alex grabs her by the shoulders and turns her around, steering her back towards the front of the shop. “Now that that’s settled, can we get back to work please?” He starts walking away. “I would prefer your dad not fire me because you keep _distracting me_.”

She rolls her eyes and sticks her tongue out at him, calling out to his retreating back, “You love me, really.”

* * *

When Willie quite literally rolls into work the next day, he’s carrying two cups of coffee with him. Luke and Reggie have already showed up to hang out with Alex and Julie on their shift – and of course, to meet the new guy – so when Willie walks in, he’s faced with double the amount of people he had probably been expecting. His walk slows a bit as he walks up to Alex and hands him one of the coffees, looking around at the expectant faces of Alex’s bandmates. Luke and Reggie had been arguing about a new country song that Reggie had written, Julie looking on fondly, and had paused mid-sentence as Willie had walked in. The result – mouths wide open and hands held mid-air – would have Alex laughing if he didn’t want to bang his head against a wall so bad at his friends’ obviousness.

Willie receives a friendly smile from Julie, but the other two boys are still standing there, staring at him, and then the coffee in Alex’s hand, and then Alex, and then back at Willie. Alex has never wanted to throttle his friends more than he does _right now_.

“ _Oh my god…_ ” Alex mutters under his breath and then he raises it to a normal volume again, “Guys- would you-” he cuts himself off and turns to Willie, who looks half amused and half concerned. “I am so sorry about them; they don’t know how to act when they meet someone new.”

The insult seems to snap both boys out of it, as it’s quickly met with a _hey!_ coming from them both, accompanied by twin frowns. Willie flicks his eyes from Alex to his bandmates, and then back to Alex again. Alex tries to convey exactly how much he does not wish to be associated with Reggie and Luke with his expression and Willie cracks a grin at him.

The skater turns back to the other two. “Hey, what’s up? I’m Willie.”

Luke’s grumpy expression shifts into a smirk, “Oh, _you’re_ Willie.”

Alex’s stomach drops. _Oh no_. He hadn’t told his other bandmates about Willie on purpose, so there’s only one way Luke could have heard Willie’s name before.

The suspect in question speaks, having watched the entire interaction with amusement, “And this,” Julie starts, gesturing to the boy beside Luke, “is Reggie!”

The dark haired boy waves enthusiastically, and Alex can tell that Willie is charmed by the boy’s antics. The skater excuses himself quickly to put his stuff in the back, and as soon as he disappears from site, Alex walks up to Luke and smacks him on the shoulder. Luke yelps and rubs the spot that Alex hit, glaring at him reproachfully, but thankfully stays quiet otherwise.

By the time Willie’s come back to the front of the store, Luke and Reggie are back to arguing about the bassist’s song, Julie getting more involved this time.

“Are they arguing over… a country song?” The long-haired boy says from where he’s standing next to Alex.

Alex snorts, “Yeah, Reg wrote it and wants to include it in our set, but Luke _hates_ country music. This is a common argument.”

“…set?”

 _Ah, right, not everyone knows about the band, Alex_.

Having heard the last bit of their conversation, Julie speaks up. “Yeah! We,” she gestures to the boys standing around her, “have a band! There’s also another member, Bobby, but he works a ways away, so he doesn’t come by here much.”

“We’re Julie and the Phantoms!” That’s Luke.

“Tell your friends!” And that’s Reggie.

Alex can’t help but to smile fondly at Reggie’s addition. The other boy never fails to be incredibly enthusiastic about the band, and the rest of them all love to see him happy and excited over it, rather than the subdued version of him that they’ve all been seeing lately.

Reggie continues to speak. “I play bass, Luke plays guitar and sings, Julie is our lead singer and plays keys as well, Bobby is our rhythm guitarist, and _Alex_ , here, is our drummer!” He puts a hand to the side of his mouth and whispers exaggeratedly, “He’s the best drummer ever, but don’t tell him I said so.”

Willie, seemingly still charmed, turns back to Alex with a smile, “A drummer, huh?”

“Uh-” _think of something to say, think of something to say, thinkofsomethingtosay_ \- “Yeah, there’s no problem that can’t be solved by wailing away on some drums.”

As soon as the words leave his mouth, Alex can feel his face turning hot, and he wills himself not to run away in embarrassment. _I can’t believe I just said that_.

Willie, however, does not seem to find anything Alex just said to be weird at all and follows up with, “Hey, that’s so cool! Do you guys play gigs?”

Alex is the only one he’s looking at when he asks the question, so he’s the one who answers. “Yeah, we try to play as many as possible. Since it’s summer and none of us have school, it’s a lot easier to book them; we’ve been playing a lot more lately.”

Willie flashes him a blinding grin, “Sick! Let me know the next time you’re playing! I’d love to come!”

Alex nods dumbly, unable to do much more in the face of Willie’s smile. He is, _thankfully_ , saved from trying to come up with a clever response by a literal bell signalling the entrance of a customer.

The girl that has just come in asks if they have used books in the store and Alex shows her to the back of the store where they have a couple bookshelves set up. The selection isn’t huge, but the girl seems delighted anyway, so Alex leaves her to it, letting her know to come find him if she had any other questions. She gives an absentminded nod, already reading the back of one of the novels, and Alex smiles a bit as he walks back to the front of the store. When he gets there, the afternoon rush is already seeming to be hitting, as both Julie and Willie are busy with customers and Luke and Reggie are chatting with someone else, but he can’t tell who it is until he gets a closer look and sees the wild hand motions that usually accompany Flynn. He glances around the store quickly and, sure enough, can also see the familiar blonde head of Flynn’s customer crush.

Julie had once tried to tell Flynn that she couldn’t have a customer crush if she didn’t work at the thrift shop, but Flynn has kept stubbornly insisting that she spends the majority of her time at the shop that she practically works there, and that she is going to continue to call the blonde girl her customer crush. Eventually, the term had caught on for Alex and Julie as well.

Alex goes up to the shorter girl and wraps his arms around her shoulders, resting his chin on top of her head. Her hand comes up to pat one of his forearms, but she otherwise pays him no mind and continues her conversation with Luke and Reggie. He’s not paying attention to the conversation and instead chooses to watch Willie interact with the customer he’s helping. As the skater glances over at their little group, his eyes zero in on Flynn and he seems to take a moment to study her, finally glancing up at Alex with an indecipherable look on his face. Alex smiles at him, but Willie just looks away quickly, continuing to help the customer he’s with.

Alex furrows his brows. _That’s odd._ As he focuses back on his friends, he realizes that Flynn has been asking him a question for the past minute, and both Reggie and Luke are staring at him.

“Sorry- what was that?” He can feel the smaller girl twist around to look at him, and when he looks down at her, she’s analyzing his face. “ _What?_ ” He glances back towards Willie, and Flynn twists back around to see where his gaze is leading. Her eyebrows raise in interest, and she looks back and forth between the two boys for a few seconds. One glance at Reggie and Luke shows their obvious amusement at the whole situation, and Alex has to stifle the urge not to roll his eyes. Sometimes, he really wants to smother his friends.

“Who is _that_?” The question comes from Flynn.

Alex considers playing dumb for a moment, but ultimately decides against it; he would never here the end of it from his friends. “Our new co-worker – he just started working here last week.”

“His name is _Willie_ and he brought Alex _coffee today_.” This is Luke, and when Alex turns to him to glare in annoyance, he is faced with the guitarist’s signature shit-eating grin. He’s well aware that his friends have all picked up on his minor – read: not that minor – crush on Willie, but he knows that if he tells them all to drop it, they will. On the other hand, he also knows that they truly just want him to be happy, despite all of the teasing. None of this is out of spite, and because of that, Alex is fine with letting the teasing continue.

Besides, it’s not as if he has ever let Luke live down his crush on Julie, or Flynn and her customer crush. Alex and his friends show their affection through snark and humour – they’re all used to it by now.

“He brought you _coffee_?” This is Flynn again.

Alex sighs and rolls his eyes, albeit fondly. “Yes, he actually ran me over with his skateboard a while ago and I spilled my coffee so he bought me a replacement one. It’s seriously no big deal!”

Flynn’s mouth drops open and she stares at Alex for a long moment before hitting him on the arm with the back of her hand. “ _Alex!_ He did _what?_ He ran you over with his-”

She cuts herself off when she notices that the subject of their conversation is looking at their group again.

Willie, Alex notices, is still giving them that same indecipherable look that he had directed at Flynn earlier, but brightens a little when their eyes meet. Now finished with the customer, he walks up to their group, slowing down a little as he nears, noticing that they’ve all turned to look at him. “Hey, guys…” He trails off, raising an eyebrow at them.

Flynn jumps in, probably feeling the way that Alex has gone tense with the awkwardness that has fallen upon them all. “Hey! You must be Willie! I’m Flynn.”

Willie flashes her a smile, but it doesn’t quite meet his eyes the way it usually does. “Hey! I think every time I turn around, another one of Alex’s friends appears in the store.”

Alex starts laughing and Willie’s eyes dart to him, finally giving him his full grin. _God, he’s cute_.

From where Alex’s arms are still wrapped around Flynn, he can feel her shake in laughter, probably at their interaction, but she suddenly freezes. When Alex looks down, he sees that her gaze is fixed on her customer crush, who is coming straight towards their group. He nudges her subtly as the girl comes to a stop in front of them.

“Hey, do any of you work here?” At Alex’s wave, she continues, “I was wondering if you guys have any records or anything like that here?”

“We have, like, a _tiny_ selection of records and cassettes. They’re in the back with the books. I can show you if you want?”

“Sure, thanks!”

Alex walks her to the same area that he had showed the previous girl, indicating to the small rack of records, cassettes, and CDs that their shop has.

“I’m sorry we don’t have much. People don’t tend to donate much to us in terms of music.”

The girl smiles, “It’s no big deal! Thanks,” her eyes flick down to his nametag, “Alex. I appreciate the help!”

He nods and heads back to his friends. When he gets back, Flynn seems eager for any details on her crush and Alex is happy to answer any questions she may have. The rest of his shift passes quickly, with Julie, Willie and him all being pulled away every once in a while to help customers, but the store slowly empties out as evening arrives. By the time Alex’s shift is over, he is dead tired and ready to get off his feet. Julie notices his eagerness to get home and bids him a goodbye, while Willie gives him a brilliant grin and waves.

“Bye, Alex!”

He walks home with Willie’s smile stuck in the back of his mind.

* * *

A flash coming from the other side of the barn startles Alex from the daze he’s fallen into as he had listened to Julie and Luke workshop a new song. The band, including Flynn, is at practice, and Flynn is taking pictures for their social media. She insists on always taking candids because, as Alex quotes, “The fans love it when they can see you guys in action. It’s _organic_ , Alex.”

The aforementioned flash is one of those candids, and Alex directs an unimpressed stare in the smaller girl’s direction. She gives him an innocent look in return, mouthing _what?_ and he just rolls his eyes in response.

He’s snapped even further out of his thoughts when his phone buzzes on the table that Julie and Luke are sitting around. He knows it’s his phone and not someone else’s when Luke glances down and immediately smirks up at Alex.

Alex is on his feet as fast as possible, but he’s not quick enough to reach it before Luke begins to talk.

“Why’s Willie asking for your coffee order again, _Alex_?”

Alex begins to pray to a God he doesn’t really believe in to save him from his annoying ass friend and snatches his phone from the table. Instead of responding he just looks at his conversation with Willie. Sure enough, there’s a couple new texts from him.

**_when are you working this week?_ **

****

**_I’m gonna bring you coffee again when we work together_ **

****

**_what do you want?_ **

****

Alex can feel a flush start to work its way onto his face at that. He knows that Willie is most likely just being nice by still trying to make up for making his spill his coffee, but it’s nice to be thought about.

Luke, never one to let things go, starts talking again. “ _So?_ What’s up with you guys?”

Alex raises an eyebrow and decides to play dumb, “What do you mean?”

“I think he means,” this is Reggie now, “Is there something going on between the two of you?”

“Uh,” Alex laughs nervously, “No? We’re co-workers and sort of friends but… no.”

It’s Julie’s turn to look skeptical now. “Are you sure, Alex? He’s also _my_ co-worker, and he doesn’t text me at all, let alone to ask me if I want him to bring me _coffee_.”

“He also didn’t, you know, _run you over with a skateboard_ , so…”

She shrugs, acquiescing to his point, but continues anyway, “That’s fair, but still.”

“You guys,” Alex begins a little desperately, “I don’t even know if he likes guys.”

“You know you could, like, _start a conversation_ about that, right?” That’s Flynn.

“Okay, Alex, you obviously like this guy… why not at least try to get a feel for how he’s feeling?” And _that_ is Bobby.

Instead of responding to them, Alex decides to text Willie back.

**you know you don’t have to buy me MORE coffee, right?**

He sends the text and looks back up at his friends – only to find that they’re all staring at him with varying expressions of glee. He groans, “ _Guys_ , seriously, nothing is going on. I can text my _friend_ without all of you acting like kids in the candy store. Please, _calm down_.”

Reggie and Luke exchange a look before the former speaks, “Hey, if our teasing is truly bothering you, we _will_ stop.”

Luke chimes in, “Yeah, man, it’s never our intention to actually make you feel bad.”

Alex smiles softly and sighs, “No, it’s not that I mind the teasing, I just- I don’t want to get my hopes up and fall for a straight guy.” His friends all wince in sympathy and he holds his hands up, placating. “ _Seriously_ , I don’t mind, I promise. But we should probably get back to practice.”

He doesn’t miss the looks his friends give one another, but he ignores them in favour of looking back down at his phone. His stomach erupts in butterflies when he sees that Willie has already responded to his text.

**willie : what if I WANT to keep buying you coffee tho? what are you gonna do about that?**

**alex : well I suppose I can’t really stop you, can I?**

**alex : but seriously**

**alex : willie**

**alex : it’s FINE**

**willie : mmm I think I’ll buy you coffee anyway**

**willie : now cmon, tell me when you work**

**willie : don’t make me ask ray**

****

Alex rolls his eyes fondly and texts him his schedule. It seems as if, despite his best efforts, Alex may end up falling for Willie anyway.

* * *

Alex gets his answer to the question of whether or not Willie likes guys a few days later. The shop’s been fairly quiet all day, and only Alex and Willie are working, so the majority of their time has been spent chatting quietly. The comfortable lull of conversation is broken as the bell above the door rings and a blonde girl loudly talking on the phone walks in, apparently paying no mind to literally everyone else around her.

Alex glances at Willie, only to find him staring at him already. The skater widens his eyes dramatically before schooling his expression into something more customer friendly as the girl comes closer. Alex can see her eyes lock onto Willie and can recognize the look of interest that falls upon her face. She says something into her phone quickly and hangs up as she nears the counter that both boys are standing behind. Despite the fact that Alex is closer to her, she zeroes in on Willie and begins to ask him a ton of questions.

Alex is beginning to feel his anxiety creep back in and knows that he needs to get away from the sight before him before it becomes too overwhelming. The girl is clearly flirting with Willie, and Willie certainly does not seem to be _hating_ it. The thought makes Alex’s heart sink to his stomach and he finds himself desperately trying to focus on anything else; anything but the idea of Willie dating someone that’s… not _Alex_.

_Ah… shit._

See, the thing is, Alex had known that he found Willie attractive – he’s not _blind_ , okay? – and he had also known that he liked Willie. He just hadn’t realized that he _liked_ Willie. Despite his friends’ teasing, up until this point, Alex has honestly thought that his feelings for the other boy were strictly platonic. Hell, he still hasn’t received any indication that Willie is anything other than straight – his interactions with the customer certainly aren’t _disproving_ Alex’s conclusion on this.

He snaps himself out of his spiralling thoughts and gets Willie’s attention to quickly let him know that he’s going to take his break, and then practically runs to the back room.

He grabs his phone and sends a text to his bandmates.

**alex : ok so I definitely like willie, someone pls help**

**reggie : wait…**

**reggie : you didn’t know this already?**

**luke : are you okay buddy?**

**jules : did something happen?**

**alex : no**

**alex : well**

**alex : a customer’s flirting with him rn and I just sort of realized that I’m into him in a super not platonic way and now I’m freaking out bc of course I had to fall for another straight guy**

**flynn : the customer is flirting with HIM, right?**

**jules : yeah, is he even flirting back?**

**alex : I mean… I guess not really? I left pretty quickly into their conversation tho, so…**

**luke : left????**

**luke : where did u go?**

**alex : I’m just hiding in the back room for now**

**alex : I didn’t wanna be around for any flirting that may be happening rn**

**jules : I’m sorry Alex :(**

**luke : want me to beat him up >:(**

Alex can hear footsteps coming towards the back room and hastily shoves his phone back into his pocket, despite feeling it vibrate a couple more times. The source of the steps is Willie, who comes in looking mildly annoyed. Despite the furrow of his eyebrows and the tense set of his mouth, Alex still feels his pulse speed up a tad at the sight of the boy in front of him. He’s also startled to realize exactly how common this feeling is when he’s faced with the skater.

_Seriously, how had he not known how into Willie he was?_

The wrinkle between Willie’s brows smooths out a little when his eyes land on Alex, and the tension in his shoulders releases the slightest bit.

“Man, did you _have_ to leave me with her?”

It’s as if all of the freaking out that Alex has been doing up until this point ceases to exist, and he lets out a weak “…what?”

“Dude, she would not stop flirting with me. And I guess… shoot your shot? But I always find it super uncomfortable to be in the position where I technically _have_ to be nice to someone and they take it as a sign of interest. Like, this is literally my job, you know?”

And no, Alex _doesn’t_ know, but he nods along anyway. “I’m sorry I left you alone. If I had known how uncomfortable you were, I would have taken over.”

Willie shoots him a small, relieved grin, “Thanks, man.”

Alex lets a couple seconds of silence fall between them before he decides _ah, what the hell_ , and goes for it. “Uh, if you don’t mind me asking...” He trails off, and Willie raises an eyebrow in encouragement, so he continues. “It’s just- she was cute. Why weren’t you interested? Not that-” Alex sighs, frustrated at himself, “Not that being uncomfortable around her isn’t a good enough reason or anything- sorry.”

Willie’s snickering by the end of Alex’s awkward tumbling through the question, so he figures he couldn’t have offended the skater _too_ badly.

_Why in the world does he have to be so awkward…_

“Uh,” Willie begins, “Mainly she’s not exactly my… type? But other than that, yeah… I just really don’t love being flirted with at work. I had to deal with it a lot at my old job – I was a waiter – and it just never feels any less uncomfortable as time has gone on.”

Alex’s mind catches on the _not my type_ part of that sentence, and he can’t help but pry a little further. “Oh, you have a type?” He means for the question to come out jokingly, but he’s not sure it lands exactly the way he intended when Willie levels him with a look that tells Alex that he’s not quite buying his innocent act.

“I mean… she’s a girl. I am _decidedly_ not interested in girls.”

Alex can feel a grin spread across his face, so he quickly schools it into something tamer. “Oh! Uh, me too. I mean- I too am… gay…” He trails off awkwardly. _Jesus, what the hell was that?_

His internal admonishment – and any further awkwardness – is cut short when both boys hear the bell above the door ring again. Alex shoots off a quick text to the group chat before he walks back to the front of the store, Willie following closely behind.

**alex : ok false alarm… he’s gay lol**

If he had been paying attention, he would have seen the look of pure delight on Willie’s face at his blurted confession.

* * *

The night of the first gig that Willie’s coming to see comes faster than Alex is prepared for. The rest of his band exchanges concerned looks as he paces back and forth backstage, spinning his drum sticks around in his hands.

Reggie stage-whispers, “Should we do something?”

Luke stage whispers right back, “No, he’s just practising his runway walk.”

The comment lands like it’s intended to, and Alex spins around to face his bandmates, sending them a small, guilty smile. He blows out a long breath, trying to relieve some of the tension in his body. “Sorry, guys.”

Julie is quick to jump in, “Alex, _no_ , it’s okay! We just want to make sure you’re all good.” She pauses, eyes scanning over his form. “You _are_ good, right?”

 _God, he loves his friends_.

“Yeah, Jules, I’m fine… I just don’t want to screw up.” _In front of Willie_ goes unsaid, but he thinks his friends catch his meaning by the way they all exchange looks again.

Julie walks towards him and grasps his shoulders. “Look, Flynn is out there with Willie right now, and she says like he seems super excited. Alex, you’re not going to mess up. You’re a brilliant drummer.”

Luke and Reggie both chime in with _yeah_ , and Bobby, usually the quiet one, nods. “Dude, I only _briefly_ met Willie earlier, and I know that you’re not going to disappoint him or anything like that.”

The other three all nod their heads in vigorous agreement, and Luke speaks this time. “Seriously, you’re amazing at what you do. Even if you make a misstep, you’ll recover. We _all_ do it; remember that time I completely forgot the lyrics to a full verse and Jules had to jump in an save me? The crowd barely even knew anything was different, and they loved it just the same. I _promise_ Willie is going to love the show, no matter what happens.”

Alex very carefully does not mention that the reason why Luke forgot the lyrics to that song was because he was too distracted staring at the very girl who saved his ass, if only for the fact that the guitarist is trying to make _him_ feel better. There are lines, he supposes.

He gives a weak smile to the rest of his friends and shrugs, “I’ll be fine, guys, it’s pre-show jitters… just a little bit worse.”

Bobby levels him with a hard stare, “Alex, you’re a fantastic musician, nothing is going to change that. Besides,” he gives a small smirk, “From everything I’ve heard… there isn’t much you can do that this dude _won’t_ like.”

Alex splutters a bit and can feel his face start to turn red and his ears hot. “Wh- what are you talking about?” His voice comes out a high and strained and he - once again - finds himself the cause of his friends exchanging _looks_.

Reggie looks at him doubtfully, “Alex, dude, c’mon! You have to know that Willie is mad into you?”

Alex, face slowly cooling down, arches a brow at the bassist, “No I do not _know that_ , and you don’t _either_.”

Luke scoffs, and when Alex glares at him, he throws his hands up, “I don’t know what’s going to convince you – short of a blinking neon sign – that this guy is into you!”

Any argument that Alex is going to throw back at Luke is cut short when someone comes backstage to tell them that they’re on in five minutes. Any nerves that had dissipated during the conversation come rushing back, full-force. He takes a deep breath and releases it in a shaky exhale, starting to twirl his drumsticks around in his hands again.

He’s considering pacing again when he feels his phone vibrate in his pocket. When he pulls it out, he sees that he has a text and a couple snapchats from Willie. He opens the snapchats first – the first is a mirror selfie of the skater wearing a Julie and the Phantoms t-shirt (Alex’s heart absolutely does _not_ stop beating for a couple seconds when he sees this, absolutely _not_ ), and the second is a video of Flynn dancing around to the music that’s been playing while everyone waits for the band to come on stage.

He checks the text next.

**i’m excited to see you guys play!!! see you after the show!!**

Alex would be ashamed of himself for getting flustered over such a simple message, but he just can’t bring himself to care about how he must appear to an outsider right now. He sends a quick reply back to the skater and then joins his bandmates as they file onstage.

* * *

The set is short, but the crowd is obviously excited to see the band play. While they’re not popular by any means, they’ve still managed to amass a bit of a very local fanbase. Looking out into the crowd, Alex even recognizes a few of the girls that have gathered by the front of the stage. He feels a rush of pride at the fact that some people love their music so much that they continue to come to every gig. The crowd is not big by any means of the word, but the sight makes Alex incredibly happy, nonetheless.

As Julie and Luke finish the last notes of Edge of Great, staring sickeningly into each other’s eyes, the crowd that has gathered for Julie and the Phantoms whoops and cheers.

Alex speaks into the mic first, “Thank you, we’re Julie and the Phantoms!”

Reggie follows quickly behind, “Tell your friends!” He winks at the group of girls that Alex had noticed before and one of the girls goes red, while her friends erupt into giggles.

Two distinctive voices can be heard loudly cheering, even after the rest of the crowd has died down, and Alex squints until he can make out the excited forms of Flynn and Willie. Alex helps the rest of the band put away their instruments and pack it all up into Bobby’s van.

Once that’s done, Alex and Julie go up to the owner of the coffee shop that the show was held in and thank him. “You kids have some real talent. I’d love to have you back to play another couple shows.”

Julie gives him a wide grin, “Thank you so much for letting us play here.”

They discuss details for possible future shows and then the man shakes their hands, wishing them luck in their future endeavors.

By the time the conversation has ended, Bobby, Luke, and Reggie have congregated around Willie and Flynn. They’re all chatting excitedly, obviously still hopped up on the adrenaline from the show and when Julie and Alex approach them, they get easily sucked into the conversation. Alex ends up beside Willie, who pulls him a little bit away from the rest of group.

“ _’Lex_.” Willie sounds breathless and looks absolutely awed. “That was amazing – _you_ were amazing.”

Alex’s breath hitches at the nickname and he takes a couple seconds to find the words he needs to respond to the boy in front of him. “Thank you so much for coming, it means a lot to us – to me.”

The skater smiles brilliantly up at him and steps forward a bit, opening his mouth like he wants to say something, but closes it again when he flicks his eyes to something over Alex’s shoulder. When the drummer turns around, he sees five pairs of eyes on them and rolls his own in response. He turns back to Willie and sees that his smile has turned shy, and red is spreading across his cheeks. Alex can’t help but smile widely at the sight of this cute boy being flustered and has to stop himself from staring for too long.

Willie looks up at Alex from under his lashes, brown eyes meeting blue. Alex’s heart stutters and butterflies erupt in his stomach at the look in his eyes; adoration and fondness mixed with shyness.

Someone coughs behind them and Alex realizes that the small group of their devoted fans, the ones that Reggie had winked at, have gathered around the rest of the band. He turns to Willie again, an apology ready on his lips, but the other boy just shakes his head and smirks.

“Go greet your adoring fans, ‘Lex.”

_There’s that nickname again…_

Alex tries to school his expression away from giddy happiness and turns back to the group of girls that are surrounding the rest of his band. Julie and Flynn are chatting with a couple of the girls, while the rest of them have gathered around the three boys. Reggie seems to be happy to have the attentions, while Bobby and Luke look vaguely nervous and fearful. He turns and grabs Willie’s hand and tows him towards the three boys, intending on diverting some of the attention away from the latter two. When he glances back at Willie, he sees the boy looking down at his hand – the one that had just been in Alex’s grasp – in surprise and something akin to awe.

Alex grins and turns to one of the girls, engaging her in conversation, all the while thinking to himself that he actually feels excited about where his relationship with Willie may be going.

* * *

All seems to be going well in Alex’s life until the girl comes back.

And _yes_ , he does mean _that_ girl.

His only solace while watching her obnoxiously flirt with Willie this time is knowing for sure that Willie is not interested.

Alex has to find something to do to keep him busy when a particularly loud and obnoxious laugh comes from _the girl_ – as Alex has taken to calling her in his head, extra emphasis included, perhaps a little vindictively – so that he doesn’t do something stupid and march over to her and tell her to cut it out.

_He’s not interested in her, he’s not interested in her, he’s not-_

Alex’s internal monologue is cut off when Julie enters the store. Alex grins in response to her bright smile, and he can see Willie wave as she passes by him and _the girl_.

 _The girl_ turns to look at what has captured Willie’s attention and narrows her eyes at Julie’s retreating back. Alex feels annoyance rise up in his chest again.

_Who does this girl think she is?_

She quickly manages to regain Willie’s attention, to her obvious pleasure, and starts talking in her loud, obnoxious voice again.

Look, Alex _knows_ he’s being unnecessarily harsh, okay? He knows this, but he can’t stop himself – she’s just so _irritating_. He casts another look at the two of them standing in front of one of the racks of clothes and blows out a harsh breath at the sight of _the girl_ laying her hand on Willie’s arm and leaning towards him while letting out yet _another_ loud – fake sounding – laugh.

Trying to take his mind off of the scene in front of him – hard as it may be – Alex focuses on tidying up some of the shelves and racks. Julie, having come out of the back, comes and joins him and Alex sighs in relief at having someone there to distract him.

“Who is _that_?” Julie whispers this with an arch of her brow.

Alex nods his head towards a shelf that sits further away from Willie and _the girl_ and Julie follows him to it.

“I don’t know who she is, but she comes in here a lot and has recently been flirting with Willie _a lot_.”

Julie turns her raised eyebrow on Alex, “You do realize that you don’t have to be worried, right?”

“ _Logically_ , yes, I know that. She’s just very… persistent.” Alex takes a breath. “ _Plus_ , she’s flirting with him at work! It’s just basic decency to _not_ do that!”

Julie gives him a fond and exasperated look, “Alex…”

“Look, I’m just _annoyed_ , okay? He’s clearly uncomfortable.” As he says this, he notices that Willie has yet again tried to put space between him, and the girl is in the process of trying to close that gap. Alex gestures towards them, and Julie tilts her head in acquiescence. He sighs again, “It’s fine – I’m fine.”

Except, just as Alex’s luck would have it, _the girl_ just had to go and prove him wrong. Alex hasn’t even made it a full _ten minutes_ before he already wants to lose his mind again. _The girl_ is _finally_ standing in front of the register, after what has felt like _hours_ in the store – in reality, it was more like 45 minutes, but _whatever_. Willie has started grabbing the clothes that _the girl_ has picked up to scan them through when the girl starts talking again.

“You guys have some really cute stuff! It’s too bad that I’m not going to keep all of it.”

At those word, Alex can feel his spine stiffen and he slowly looks at Julie. He sees that she’s already staring at him and she rolls her eyes when they meet his own.

The Molina’s thrift shop doesn’t often have to deal with thrift resellers, but it never gets any less annoying when they do. Alex and Julie have gone on many a rants before, during, and after their shifts about people like this girl, and he could probably recite from memory Flynn’s speech about how privileged it is, so just.

Yeah.

They hate people like this.

Alex chances a glance at Willie and realizes that he looks less than happy himself, something that fills Alex with satisfaction. Part of him feels vindicated that he now has a reason to not like _the girl_ , even though he knows, logically, that there’s no way he could have actually known this girl’s true intentions.

Willie finally responds to the girl, “Oh, is that right?”

 _The girl_ nods and leans forward, stage whispering in a conspiratorial manner, “ _Yeah_! I have a depop and I’m probably going to sell most of this for profit.”

Willie clears his throat and straightens up, hands that are holding the girl’s purchases slowing to a halt. “Uh,” he starts, casually – but deliberately so, “Sorry, I totally forgot to mention that our card reader isn’t working right now. We only take cash.”

Alex has to hide himself behind one of the shelves so that _the girl_ doesn’t notice his mouth drop open into a gape. He has to stifle a laugh when he sees _the girl_ ’s expression. She looks a mix between confused and annoyed, and the resulting face she’s making makes her look ridiculous.

“Oh… are you sure?”

Willie gives a forced chuckle, “Yep! So, you’ll be paying in cash?”

It’s a shot in the dark, but Alex knows that most people don’t cash with them at all, let alone enough to pay for _the girl_ ’s purchase.

She huffs in frustration, “ _No?_ I don’t have that much cash on me.”

Alex can see Willie shrug his shoulder, “Uh, sorry, there’s not much I can do.”

_Holy shit, can he ask this man to marry him? Is it too soon for that?_

_The girl_ ’s scoff breaks him from his spiralling thoughts. “Well, fine, I guess I won’t be buying any of this.” She stuffs her wallet in her bag and whirls around, marching to the door. Right before her hand touches the handle, she turns around to look at Willie. “Uh, bye?”

“Have a nice day!” This is all Willie says in response, and _the girl_ huffs again, finally leaving the shop.

As soon as she’s out of sight, Willie whirls around to face Julie and Alex. Through the entire exchange, Julie had been snickering to herself, but now she’s outright laughing. Alex is still staring at Willie with his mouth gaping open. He knows he probably looks ridiculous, but he can’t make himself stop staring at the other boy.

“I’m gonna get fired, aren’t I?”

Julie’s laughter cuts off abruptly, “ _What?_ Oh my god, _no!_ ”

Willie does not look reassured, “Uh, are you sure?”

Julie nods emphatically, “Yes, Willie, I’m sure. My dad literally owns this place, I think I have _some_ credibility here.”

“I mean, I know you do, but then why is Alex _staring at me like that?_ ” He says the last words in a low whisper, and finally, that is what causes Alex to close his mouth.

It does not, however, cause his brain to start working again, because the first words out of his mouth are, “Holy shit, I could kiss you.”

Which… yeah. _What the fuck, Alex?_

Willie’s head whips around to face Alex, and the drummer can feel his face start turning a very, _very_ interesting shade of red.

And truly, the god that Alex doesn’t really believe in must be taking a liking to him, because as Willie is about to respond, the door swings open again, letting in a group of teens and allowing Alex to make his escape to the back.

* * *

Closing time rolls around in an excruciatingly slow manner, because apparently whatever luck Alex found when he made his escape earlier has run out by the time he makes his way back to the front of the store. He is ever aware of Willie’s presence around the shop, especially with the skater continuously trying to get his attention. Alex is aware that he’ll probably have to confront the situation at some point, but now does not have to be that point, okay?

Except, apparently now _does_ have to be that point, because the store’s closed and Julie has left with Ray, leaving Willie and Alex to clean and lock up.

Alex is at the register, counting the cash, when he turns and suddenly Willie is right in front of him.

The skater takes a deep breath and steps in front of Alex when he tries to flee, _again_. “ _Alex_ , would you stop running away?” The look in his eyes makes Alex stop in his tracks. He looks… _sad_.

The drummer nods his agreement and stands back as Willie takes another deep breath, “’ _Lex_ …”

And there it is again. That nickname. Alex has got to hand it to Willie, the boy _really_ knows how to get his attention.

The name, combined with the soft look in Willie’s eyes, is enough to make any resolve that Alex may have had melt away completely. He takes a step towards the other boy. Willie tries again.

“’Lex, did you mean it?”

Alex knows what he’s talking about, but he still needs the verbal confirmation. “Did I mean what?”

Willie appeases him, “Did you mean it when you said-” he hesitates, but only for a moment, “-when you said that you wanted to kiss me?”

Alex steps forward a little bit more, “I mean… I have since pretty much the moment you started working here.”

Willie relaxes, and Alex realizes suddenly that he was _worried_. Worried that Alex would deny him? Or worried that he would play it off as some kind of joke? Alex isn’t sure why, but he’s very intent in making sure that worry does not plague Willie any longer. He takes a final step forward until the two of them are toe to toe and grabs his hands.

“Willie, I _really_ like you. So much that I sometimes forget to think before I speak around you.”

The skater smiles shyly up at him. “Oh _thank god_.” And then he closes the gap between them, pushing Alex back against the counter.

The kiss doesn’t last long, but it leaves Alex breathless, nonetheless. He reaches out a tucks a piece of Willie’s hair behind his ear and says, “Okay, c’mon.”

The other boy laughs a bit, “What? Where are we going?”

Alex grins, “Want to go get coffee? This time I’m paying.”

**Author's Note:**

> thank you for reading this thing that took me two months to writeeee
> 
> come scream at me on tumblr @yourstrulytaaay and also go follow @adhd-disaster-willie, who kindly let me take their idea and run with it.


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